


Q-urious Coffee

by Accal1a



Category: James Bond (Craig movies)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Coffee Shops & Cafés, Banter, Fluff, M/M, Tooth-Rotting Fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-11
Updated: 2020-02-11
Packaged: 2021-02-28 00:42:12
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,020
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22654927
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Accal1a/pseuds/Accal1a
Summary: Q definitely doesn't go to the same coffee shop everyday so he can see the barista.James definitely doesn't wait for the cute man to come and study in the coffee shop.That would be ridiculous.
Relationships: James Bond/Q
Comments: 19
Kudos: 160





	Q-urious Coffee

**Author's Note:**

  * For [astudyinfic](https://archiveofourown.org/users/astudyinfic/gifts).



> Happy Birthday Jena! Please note this killed me to write (as I'm sure you will be able to tell when you've finished), seriously, I'm dead.

"Flat white with a shot of caramel for Q!" The shout carried in the bustling coffee shop. The conversation seeming to lull and then swell again after the call, as it somehow knew how to do, as if the shop was a living breathing organism, and not just filled with them.

James didn't need to shout that, he knew precisely who the coffee was for, but he also liked to watch the gangly bespectacled man look up from his books with an air of surprise, as if he had forgotten he'd ordered the beverage at all, and shoot to his feet and make his way through the throng.

"Thank you." The man said shyly, his fingers brushing the barista's as he took the proffered cup.

It was a barely there touch that James could almost believe hadn't happened, if it wasn't for the slight tinge of blush to Q's cheeks. He still didn't know what the man's full name was, and the mystery of it was slowly driving him mad.

~~~

Bolstered by the slightly forward nature of the man who seemed to be perpetually studying, the next time he came in, James tried to start a conversation with him, to questionable effect.

"Flat white with…"

"…a shot of caramel. I know." The barista said, smiling.

The man blushed again, and it was no less endearing this time around either.

"For…Quigly?" He asked, raising an eyebrow.

Q laughed, but shook his head, "just Q." He paid the man and walked back to his books.

~~~

It had become something of a game, with James guessing Q's name every time he came in, which was starting to become every day.

Q liked to watch James as he worked, the precise nature of what he was doing, the way he greeted customers that were clearly regulars, but also the way that he brooded when he thought no-one was watching. He was clearly a study in contrasts, and Q couldn't wait to work out what the other facets of this man were.

James liked to watch Q working. The way his face would scrunch up, his frown seeming to take over his entire face, when he gave up on the page he was writing and instead screwed it into a ball, placing it on the table to be scooped up the next time he went to the bin; or the way he chewed the tip of his pen when he was thinking hard on whatever he was working on that day. It was hopelessly endearing and he couldn't wait to learn more about him.

~~~

"Quinn?" James guessed the next time, not even bothering to ask the man for his order.

Q shook his head.

~~~

"Quincy?"

"No."

~~~

"Quade?"

"Not even close."

~~~

"Quintrell."

"That's horrific."

"Yes, but…"

"My parents do actually love me, so no."

~~~

The man hadn't even got to the counter that day before James was speaking. "Quillan?"

Q laughed. "You didn't take my order."

James shrugged. "Don't need to."

~~~

"Quimby?"

"You made that up."

"No I didn't."

"Yes you did."

"Google said it's real."

The idea that James had been Googling names beginning with Q just so they could have this daily interaction made Q's stomach do a flip.

"Right, because Google's never wrong about anything."

~~~

"Quincey?"

"You already guessed that."

"Different spelling. This one was with an 'e'."

Q rolled his eyes, but grinned as he walked away.

~~~

"Quintus?"

"Only child."

"Damnit."

~~~

"Quadrilateral?"

Q couldn't help it, he burst out laughing. He laughed again when he saw that instead of a 'Q', James had drawn a rhombus on his cup.

~~~

"Quotient?"

This time, there was a simple maths formula on his cup, and he smiled.

~~~

"Quiver?"

"No, it's just cold out." Q said, laughing at the way James seemed to be struck dumb by his stupid attempt at a joke.

~~~

"Quartz?"

"Whilst geology does indeed rock, I'm an engineer." Q said, and James filed that knowledge away as another thing he had learnt about the man.

~~~

"Quinoa?"

Q just gaped at James at that guess, walking away without paying and having to go back seconds later when he realised.

"Got it, you're not a salad."

~~~

"Quoits?"

"What the hell is that?"

"It's a 19th century game where you would throw disks of metal over a post in the ground."

Q handed the money over in shock, and when he picked up his coffee he just said. "No, I am not the personification of a Victorian sport."

~~~

"Quarrel."

"No arguments here."

~~~

"Queasy."

"Your coffee isn't _that_ bad."

~~~

"Quack."

"You haven't even given me the bill yet."

James groaned as Q walked away, but there was an approximation of a duck drawn on the cup this time, and Q added being unable to draw to the short list of things he knew about James.

~~~

James only got so far as opening his mouth on the last day of anonymity.

"It's Quentin."

James smiled widely, and when he did so Q noticed flecks of green in his light blue eyes. They were gorgeous.

When Q picked up his cup, he smiled and blushed, so very glad that he'd voiced his name, as if James had been waiting for this precise moment for the words written on the cup.

_Quentin, will you go out with me?_

Then there was a phone number, written in James' precise script.

When he looked up, James had had to go and serve another customer, so Quentin took a thick cardboard heat protector from the dispenser to his right, and pulled a pen out of his pocket, writing a response.

He took his coffee back to his seat, still smiling, and he watched as James looked down at the cardboard when he handed the next drink off to a customer.

Quentin had written in his messy scrawl something which didn't need any graphology knowledge to understand, given the sheer amount of punctuation involved.

"YES!!!!!!"

When James looked up, they looked directly into each other's eyes and grinned. They both found they couldn't be too sad that the game was over, not if they got to keep playing in other ways.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks also to [K](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lumieerie/pseuds/Lumieerie) for the cheerleading.
> 
> ~~~
> 
> Fancy joining a multi-fandom Discord server where you can ~~squee with~~ chat with like minded people? Have I got the place for you!
> 
> Come and join **The Fandom Playhouse**. You don't have to be mad to [join](https://discord.gg/82pvdE39fD), but it does help...


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